After two years of trade requests and petulance and a stock-lowering season with the Lakers, it's time for the Dwight Howard free agency sweepstakes—and four teams have emerged as potential landing spots should Howard decide to leave L.A.

This is not a competition for a typical max player. If Howard's not damaged goods, he's at least slightly cursed. He forced Stan Van Gundy out, even as he spent a year trying to leave Orlando. When the Lakers gave up Andrew Bynum in a four-way trade to get Howard, every team won the deal—except the ones who got Howard or Bynum. He battled injury in Los Angeles, and played on an old, injury-wracked roster, and even as the Lakers seemed to get it together for a playoff run, Kobe Bryant went down. The fact is the Lakers have no idea how Howard fits in on their roster, even as other potential free agency destinations could be forgiven for fearing the worst-case scenario: a surly, ineffective, four-year albatross.

The CBS report also names the Mavericks as a team that could clear the space to afford Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki has said he's willing to take a major pay cut to help the team land a max free agent this summer. There's a cash bonus too. In Dallas, as Houston, Howard wouldn't have to pay state income tax.

After the Clippers' unexpected first-round exit, the Dallas Morning News passed along whispers that L.A. is going to spend the summer clearing space to make a major splash in free agency. The Clippers believe they will re-sign Chris Paul, and still be able to land Howard on a max deal. It'll take some creative accounting, but the Clips are already the sexy team in Los Angeles for the near future.

But this is not the Summer of LeBron, where a signed contract guarantees years of dominance. This is more like a Long, Dark Dwight of the Soul, and any team that lands Howard commits to a flawed, mercurial centerpiece for four long years—and the Heat's Big Three and Carmelo Anthony could go on the market as early as 2014. Dwight Howard can be great, an anchor in the paint. He could also be an anchor around the neck of any franchise that gives out a max deal just because it can.